A life is ending
by Mrs HHfan no1
Summary: Someone is sitting in a rocking chair on a white porch, remembering what has happened throughout the years to Loren Tate, Eddie Duran and all the people around them. Who is remembering? Why is she not interacting with all the other people around her? Who's the man helping her to cope throughout the day? Who's everybody in the surroundings? What is happening? Read and find out.
1. Chapter 1 - How it all started

1. How it all started

_It's a couple of hours before noon and as I sit here rocking in my white rocking chair on my white porch looking out on all the people in my garden, strolling around, walking, talking, playing games and splashing water on each other in the pool, my thoughts starts wandering of. I have such difficulties believing that I'm related to this entire bunch of people and that it all started with a concert and a tweet all those years ago. But maybe it hasn't been that many years though. It's only been like ten of them I think and still I've ended up here on the porch not really able to take a part in the happenings on my lawn or in my pool. I slightly close my eyes and suddenly the memories come flooding in to my mind. They play out as pictures and movie sequences and the main characters are a girl and a boy in an unbelievable love story with, hopefully, no end._

The entire story started with the idolizing and fainting over the one and only Eddie Duran - the famous rock star. His music was played all over the radio, the music channels on TV and in every store around the country. There was no possibility to avoid it, not even if you tried. I must say though that the songs were catching and just made everyone want to sing and dance, especially to his mostly played songs _Something in the air _and _Kick it up_. They always made me smile.

Duran's number one fan, Loren Tate, was really in to his music and knew every song by heart, the lyrics, the notes and the dance steps. She played them both on guitar and piano. When she thought no one was listening she sang the lyrics as well, but if anyone showed up she blushed and immediately stopped singing.

One evening it was time for the rock star, Mr. Eddie Duran himself, to return to Los Angles, his hometown, for the last concert after a long world tour. He arrived in a private jet with his girlfriend Chloe Carter and his manager Jake Madsen. At the airport there were a lot of screaming fans and Eddie, who never wants to disappoint his fans, started writing autographs and taking pictures with some of them. Chloe suddenly spotted the paparazzi's and started to cling on to Eddies arm. Jake saw it and gave her an annoyed look but didn't comment on it. After a short while he told Eddie to get in the car and suddenly they were on their way to the Avalon, were the concert was going to be held. The limo dropped Chloe of at her apartment and Jake and Eddie went to their destination.

Loren was so excited because she was going to be a part of the crowd, one of the lucky people that had gotten a ticket to the concert at the Avalon. Boy was she kidding herself. When she and her best friend Melisa Sanders arrived at the arena it turned out that Mel's brother Phil bought hem counterfeit tickets and there wasn't a chance in hell that they were going to see the show. Mel, who is the source full one, decided to go to the back of the building to see if there weren't any open windows. Just as they were trying to break in to the arena Eddies manager Jake spotted them outside when he was talking on the phone. Loren's heartfelt speech won him over and he gave the girls wristbands so they could walk up to a spot just below the stage and be right in the center of the front row.

After a couple of minutes Duran started the show and in the beginning of one of the bridges of _Something in the air_ Eddie suddenly locked eye with his number one fan, he just didn't know who she was, yet. He felt the urge to grab her hand and once he did that it was like he couldn't let go of her. When suddenly the tempo changed, he snapped out of the feeling and let the girls hand slip out of his. During the rest of the concert Eddie kept feeling this pull towards the brown eyed girl in the crowd but he couldn't explain why it happened. He just felt an urge to make a connection with her. When the concert was over he went into his dressing room trying to collect his thoughts but there he met up with his father and Jake. There was no chance for him to reflect on what happened out on stage.

After a while the audience was still screaming for more but Eddie was already on his way. Loren and Mel took a stroll down the street and kept talking and talking about how fantastic the concert was and how hot Eddie was. Mel also tried to tell her friend that Eddie really had locked eyes with Loren but she just shook her head and didn't believe Mel. Why should he do something like that? She was just a plain girl from the Valley. If he had locked eyes with Melisa or any other girl then maybe she would have believed it, but with her? It just couldn't be true, could it? When Loren returned to her home, after a nice car ride filled with music and laughter, she went to her room to go to bed but she was too inspired to sleep. She took out her notebook and started to write a new song. Oh yes, she wrote her own tunes, and still does, but had never shown them to anyone, so far. In the spur of the moment she suddenly opened her Twitter account and tweeted some of her lyrics to Eddie Duran and told him that he had inspired her to write. The superstar read them and found them to be really good. So good that he printed them out so that he could use them for inspiration from time to time when he was writing his own songs. Loren didn't know this by then though.

Chloe never showed up at the Avalon for Eddie's last concert because she was cheating on him with Tyler Rorke and that was the start of the downfall for Miss Chloe Carter. But when Eddie later arrived at his penthouse the she devil was there waiting for him. Oblivious to the fact that Chloe was, and is, a fake he spent the night with her, after all she is his girlfriend, or should I say, was his girlfriend. Thank God that Eddie found out what a snake she is. As time went by he found out that not only did she lie to him about who she really was, that her mother was still alive and that she cheated on him, she also was the one who was responsible for the death of Eddies mother, Katy.

_Suddenly I'm shaken out of my thoughts by a child that trips over one of the rockers to the chair I´m sitting in. The kid apologizes and runs as fast as he can to the pool with the ball he just fetched on the porch. I hear his mother shout at him and tell him to be careful around me but I slowly lift my hand and wave to her to tell her that it doesn't matter. Shortly after that I feel a pair of strong arms lifting me up and carrying me to bed. A blanket is thrown over my tired numb body and a pair of lips lightly touches my forehead. "Please sleep for a little while and I will wake you up and pick you up in time for lundh" I hear my husband's voice whisper in to my ear. I know he does it out of love but I really don't want to sleep right now. I want to; no I need to be around my love ones instead of lying here all alone on my own. He gives me a couple of pills and a glass of water and I slowly swallow them. When I try to sit up my body refuses to do what I need it to do, so I just resign, close my eyes, and let the sleep take over my entire body and soul. As I´m falling to sleep I feel the pain in my body slowly disappearing to be almost gone by the time I´m oblivious to the surroundings._


	2. Chapter 2 - The singing

**Hey!**

**Last time I posted a chapter it was my very first time on FanFiction and my A/N was lost. That's why I now have to tell you again that my English is really bad when it comes to grammar and spelling and that I don´t own any rights to the Hollywood Heights story or the characters. **

**I want to send a special Thank you to GabrielaC12 for my first review ever. BTW I love your story ****_Expecting_****.**

**If anyone else out there likes my writing or wants to help me become a better writer then please R&R. I will post more chapters eventually but not so often because I do have to study and work, a lot.**

**/K**

2. The singing

_After a couple of hours of sleep I wake up to a voice so amazing that I thought that I was already united with the angels, but when I recognizes the voice my entire body relaxes. I thank God for the grace that he has only taken away my movability in my lower and partially in my upper body and not my hearing or my eyesight, at least so far. The song that I hear is so beautiful and it´s one of Eddie's tunes that is about love and the happiness of having a child, raising it and to see it grow up. My eyes gets filled with tears and my heart aches for my family knowing that I don't have much time left to spend on this earth. I want to spend as much as possible of it with them but I really don't have the energy to do so. Suddenly my stomach makes a loud noise and in an instant my husband is here by my side. "You're awake?" he whispers in my ear. I slightly nod my head and open my eyes. When I see him my entire heart is filled with love and I feel a lump in my throat. I need to swallow hard and cough to make it go away. The thought of leaving him alone is tearing me apart, but I have no choice – my body won't function much longer. His reaction to my coughing is horror and his eyes show how terrified he is. I smile at him and whisper "It's not time yet. I will be here for a while longer". A small tear slips out of his eye and he wipes it away as quickly as he can for me not to see it. But it's too late. I tell him not to be sad, but I know that it's impossible not to be sad when you're losing someone. Once again he picks me up, puts me in my rocking chair and puts a blanket around my torso and my legs. He tucks it gently around me so that I won't be cold in the mild breeze that's blowing through the garden. I look around and see that all the people are seated around the white garden tables and are eating from the barbecue that's been prepared trough out the entire morning. My husband fetches me a bowl with some soup and feeds me slowly. I can feel how the liquid is slowly going throughout my digestive system but I can't taste it. Everything has the same flavor because of the medicines and I really don't enjoy food anymore, even though I certainly used to before my illness. When I tell my husband I'm full he takes away the food, kisses me on the forehead and walks away to pick up some food to himself. When he arrives back at our table my thoughts have wondered away once more, and another movie starts playing in my head._

The Avalon concert was the start of something beautiful that became the whole world to the number one fan of Eddie Duran, Loren Tate, and the start of a love that ended up in a gigantic family that includes all of Loren's friends and their families also. Shortly after the concert at the Avalon Eddie's record label wanted him to have a song writing contest to find some new material to record. Little did Eddie know that his biggest fan, the girl with the hazel brown eyes from the concert, would win it and that it would lead to one of the biggest love stories in Hollywood that most people talked about. The way to the first place in the contest wasn't straight though. It had its ups and downs but in the end Loren won the concert in spite of what all of the students at her school told her. The only ones who really had hope and believes in Loren was her mother, her best friend Melisa and her other friend Adam, a shy boy that loved her like a friend but really, really loved Mel as you would love a girlfriend. The worst part of the contest was when Loren almost missed her performance because Melisa's car broke down and then when she got up on stage she ran off of it filled with stage fright. But when Eddie came back stage to talk to her, to calm her down and to tell her to sing to him she went back up and won the whole thing. Eddie wasn't among the judges; it was people from the music industry that was judging the contributions which actually were a good thing since it made Loren believe that she actually had a good song. When the result was announced Loren fainted on stage and Eddie caught her. When she woke up at Max Duran's apartment she felt so ashamed and just wanted to go up into thin air but once again Eddie saved her by telling her that it didn't matter. When she was about to leave MK – the club of Max Duran – with her mother, Mel and Adam, Eddie told her that she was welcome to attend the video shot for his video of the song _Something in the air_. She was over the top with happiness and wanted nothing more than to come.

When Loren arrived at MK the next day she found out that she wouldn't only be attending the set but she would also be a part of the music video. After a lot of crap, which most of it was the fault of Chloe Carter, the video was recorded. One day that was intended to be a recording day was lost because of Chloe making a mess out of things. That day was one of the best days in Loren's life. Eddie went with her and Melisa to the Aroma Café to eat some lunch and to play foosball. Loren beat Eddie Duran repeatedly although he won once or twice. It was one of those days when they got to know each other a little bit.

After the video was recorded Eddie and Loren started to spend more and more time together, writing music and singing. Kelly, an employee of Jake Madsen who is Eddie's manager, wanted Jake to sign Loren but when he didn't see how great she was Kelly went behind his back and signed her without him knowing about it. Kelly got Loren a lot of support, both positive and negative. She did a lot to try to change Loren but Eddie was there to stop her, most of the times even though it led to a small discussion between Loren and Eddie at one time.

Every time Eddie and Loren spent time together there were glances and touching and shared smiles that they weren't even aware of themselves. Anyone who looked at them a little bit closer and were a little bit more observant could see that there was something going on between them. Mel always told Loren that Eddie was falling for her but she would always deny it. Loren couldn't let herself believe that he could love her because she was so afraid to be heartbroken. What if she let herself fall in love with him and he would disappear like her father did when she was four? She wouldn't survive it. Because of that it was better to pretend not to be in love with him and try not to get caught up in it.

Eddie got more and more intrigued by the girl with the voice of an angel and a heart bigger than anyone else's. He started dreaming, and day dreaming, about her and when it was time for his twenty-second birthday he just couldn't help himself, he just had to invite her to go out to dinner with him and his father Max. Loren did everything she could to avoid the dinner but ended up at Rumor with the both of them and her mother Nora, who met Max once before when she convinced him to listen to Loren's song and get Eddie to listen to it too so that it could enter the final ten in the song writing contest. Of course Chloe had to show up and stir up some drama and hurt Eddie yet another time, but at the end of the night Eddie was driving Loren home, taking a stop at Mulholland drive and talking about everything and nothing. When they finally arrived at Loren´s home, Eddie walked her to the door, thanked her for a lovely evening and slowly and gently kissed her. It was their very first kiss. Loren couldn't believe what had happened but she was so excited about it. Suddenly even she believed that there was something between her and Eddie. But she couldn't put in to words what it was. The evening ended up being inspirational to both of them and some great music was written later on.

During the birthday dinner a connection was formed between Nora and Max also. They were intrigued by each other and as time went by they spent more and more time together and were more and more drawn to each other. After a while they ended up sleeping together but they really didn't want to tell their children. However both of them ended up spilling their guts to their kids, they just couldn't hide how happy they were.

A couple of days after the birthday dinner Loren and Eddie were having a concert at the MK club. Loren was freaking out about the concert from the moment she learned about it until it was on. Eddie tried to calm her down the best way he knew. It ended up with him starting the concert and introducing Loren by singing a duet with her, something Loren definitely wasn't prepared for. But since it was one of Eddie's old songs she knew it by heart and it went perfectly good. She then sang Mars and after that Eddie tried out his new material that no one seemed to be impressed by, no one but Loren who told him that she loved the songs. Eddie then told her that he at least had one fan left and that that was his girlfriend. Loren was a bit taken by surprise by his statement, this was the first time he used the g-word, the word girlfriend.

_Suddenly my heart makes an extra beat and I feel like something isn't right. I open my eyes and stares at a young boy kneeling in front of me. I hear him saying "Please, please, pleeeease open your eyes". His voice is filled with sorrow and hurt but when I open my eyes he smiles. He says proudly "Thank you, now I can sing MY song to you". He sings a beautiful song about a man and a woman, and their way to love and happiness. In the chorus he gets help from his siblings, both his two sisters and his brother. I can't do anything but smile and reach my hand over to my loving husband who sits closely to me. When the children stops singing I just smile and whisper a "Thank you" to them all. They step up to the chair and kiss me on my cheek, one by one. I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my abdomen. I know that I must lie down but I don't want to. As always my husband can read me like an open book and lifts me up without so much as a word. He carries me to bed and kisses my forehead. "See you in a while" he says as he closes the door. All of a sudden I hear someone outside pick up a song and one by one the other people in the garden joins in. It's like having your own concert outside your window. A piano starts playing and after a couple of seconds it's joined by a couple of guitars. The song is soft and it appears to me like everyone knows the words by heart. And that isn't weird at all because the song is _Amazing Grace_. I close my eyes as the tears slowly falls down my cheeks. _

**R&R and I will continue this story.**

**/K**


	3. Chapter 3 - The first grief

A/N: **Another chapter. I still don´t own any rights to anything but the plot.**

**Thanks for the reviews and the PM, but I will let you wonder about who the different people are for another three or four chapter, at least, but the more you read, the more you will figure it out. I hope. And I hope that you won't give up on my story just because I won't tell you all of the secrets yet.**

**/K**

3. The first grief

_A chill goes down my spine and I don't know why. I open my eyes and see that my husband is leaning over me, caressing my cheek and forehead and that always sends chills up and down my spine. When he catches me looking at him, he takes a seat on the bed and gives me this lovely smile that always makes me warm in my heart and which always, back in the days, melted the heart of his rock and roll fans. Every minute of every day I ask myself why he chose me and not all the other women that tried to win him over throughout the years. Somehow we met and I fell in love with him as a person, not the rock star that I already loved before we even met, and I fell fast and hard. I don't think he fell for me as fast as I did for him, but at one point he just told me that he loved me. My husband has had his heart broken really bad one time before and now I know that I'm going to do that to him too. Not by choice though. I tell him "Please don't mourn over me when I'm gone". He looks at me without a word and his smile fades away slowly. "Please try to move on as soon as you can. If not for me then for the children" I tell him. He swallows and I can see that he's focusing hard not to cry. "They would never forgive me if I moved on", he says and continues "and I would never forget myself either". I can see tears forming in his eyes and I beg him to lie down next to me and hold me close. As he wraps his arms around me I shiver and he relaxes his grip a bit. Right away I tell him not to let me loose. I want to feel his strong arms wrapped around me and for him to hug me with all that he's got just so I can remember how well it felt back in the beginning of our relationship, when we would cuddle up on the couch hugging, oblivious to anything or anybody around us, just watching a movie or talking. This isn't the first time we have been going through rough times though. We have been through some horrible times together before, even if they can't match up with what's going to happen this time. As I feel secure and relaxed in his arms my mind starts wandering again and I remember the last time the family went through a loss._

As always when Eddie and Loren went through drama it was because of Chloe Carter. This time she hacked in to Loren's phone and sent a phony message about Eddie and Loren having sex. It was a terribly badly written text message about how Loren felt during the first time they slept together. There were just a couple of problems with that text, first of all they hadn't done it yet, had sex that is, and secondly the language Chloe used was so bad, that everyone who knew Loren directly knew that it wasn't her who had written it. Not even Eddie believed that she would do something like that, although he didn't know her that well at the time. Loren freaked out though. She was at the Aroma Café when Melisa got the text from Adam, who got it from someone else. It had spread like the wind among a lot of people that knew neither Loren nor Eddie.

Eddie first saw the text message when he met Lily Park at Rumor for discussing a TV show she was doing of young artists who had lost a parent, or at least that was what she claimed she was doing. Actually Tyler already told her that Chloe was responsible for driving the car that made Max Duran drive of the road and in to the tree that ended up killing Eddie's mother, Katy Duran. Chloe had actually known all along that she caused the death of Eddie's mother and still she pursued a relationship with him, getting engaged and trying to get Eddie to marry her. Fortunately he discovered the whole thing this night, or maybe you could say unfortunately, because it ended up causing the drama that made the upcoming week being the worst period in Loren's young life, so far.

When Eddie found out about the text message he got angry, he knew directly that it was fake and told Lily so, and when he then saw Chloe with Tyler at the bar he immediately came to the conclusion that she sent it. He was furious and lashed out at her. She tried to tell him that she didn't do anything, thinking that Lily told him she drove the car that lead to his mother's death. Eddie rushed out of Rumor and went over to MK only to have Chloe following him up to his father's apartment. Eddie shouted at her and she was confused at first but then she realized that Eddie wasn't talking about the car accident, he just knew about the text message. But when she caught up on that Eddie was already suspicious of what Chloe was so upset about in the first place, so upset that she chased him all the way in to his father's apartment knowing that she was banned from the bar. He forced her to talk about what was bothering her.

After a while Chloe admitted to have been the one who wrote the text but she said it was because she was drunk, not that she did it to hurt Loren even though she was sober when she wrote it. Eddie didn't let it go with that though. He pushed and pushed verbally until she cracked and told another one of her lies. She told him that Tyler drove the car that caused his mother's accident. Eddie was now furious. He stormed out of the apartment to the stairs in the bar. There he caught the sight of Tyler sipping on a drink by the bar. Eddie then flew down the stairs running up to Tyler, staring at him. Grace, the bartender, told him that Tyler wouldn´t leave and suddenly Eddie made Tyler go out to the entrance of the club. Out there he forced Tyler to tell him the truth after a couple of punches had been shared. When Eddie got it, that Chloe had been playing him all the time, he freaked out and jumped in to the car, just speed driving to nowhere.

In the meantime Loren really freaked out. She went around the entire town, to all the places where she thought Eddie could be at. The most important thing to her was to tell Eddie that she didn't send the text message. When she ended up at the MK she talked to Grace who told her that Eddie had rushed out of there. Loren started calling him but there were no answer. She found Eddies phone on the bar and realized that she wasn't going to reach him right then and there. After a while she gave up and went home where she found Max and her mother. Max tried to reassure Loren that nothing bad had happened and that Eddie would contact her soon.

Chloe had stayed at the apartment and then realized that the truth was catching up with her. Suddenly Dylan Boyd showed up, tried to force himself on her and it ended up with Chloe falling over the railing of the terrace. Dylan, like the coward he was and still is, ran and didn't even stop to check if Chloe was alright or not. He went into hiding and no one knew where he was. When Max came home he found Tyler pounding on his door screaming for Chloe. When Wax opened the door to the apartment Tyler ran in after Max and found Chloe's things but not her. When they walked out on the terrace and looked over the railing they saw her on the ground. While Max was calling for an ambulance Tyler rushed down to Chloe only to find her unconscious. She was rushed to the hospital and Tyler blamed Eddie for the whole thing, not knowing if it was the truth. He saw a possibility to get rid of Eddie no matter what happened to anybody else, and he grabbed it.

While all this drama went on at MK Eddie were driving around Ojai all devastated. Suddenly he stopped the car, walked out the door and collapsed at the front wheel talking to his dead mother. When he had ranted for a while he started looking for his phone to call Loren and talk to her. After a couple of minutes he realized that he had left the phone back at the bar. He jumped in to the car and drove off but discovered that he needed to go get some gas. At the gas station Eddie was approached by a guy who wanted an autograph for his girlfriend. After signing one Eddie went behind the station to find a toilet and then got beaten in the head and all over his body by someone. The perpetrator stole his car and, after a couple of miles driving it at a high speed, drove it straight in to a tree so that it exploded with him or her in it. When the car later was examined by the police no one could tell if it was Eddie who had been driving it and ended up so burnt that no one could recognize who it was. Max got a call from the police and went up to Ojai only to find out that the car was indeed Eddies and that they found his wallet in the car. That the body needed DNA identification gave Max a slight hope but he was really crushed by the fact that it could be Eddie in that accident. That his son could have met the same destiny as his loving wife Katy, Eddies mother.

Time passed and suddenly Loren, Mel and Nora found a news bulletin on the Internet saying that Eddie had been in a car crash and didn't survive. Loren refused to believe in it but as times went by she had no choice. She dreamt about Eddie, she saw him everywhere, even at school, and she just had a hard time coping with all the emotions. After a while she asked Max if she could stay in Eddie's penthouse and he agreed. While she lived there she tried to write some songs but she saw him everywhere around the piano so it didn't come easy to her. One day she tried to record her song Mars, the song that won Eddie's contest, and with the help of Jake Madsen, Eddie's manager, she succeeded. Slowly she realized that she wanted to make a memorial concert in the loving memory of Eddie and she wanted to do it at MK, the club of Eddie's father Max. Everyone agreed that it was a great idea and they arranged for it to happen.

Kelly got Loren an interview and tricked her to doing it in Eddie's penthouse. When it was over Melisa told Loren about how she felt about Kelly and showed her some incriminating footage of how Kelly tells a producer that no one is going to be able to recognize Loren by the time her first album is being released. Loren then had a fight with Kelly and suddenly Loren was the one calling the shots again.

When all of this was happening Eddie was staying in a shack in the Ojai neighborhood, recovering from his wounds. No one really knows until this day what actually happened up there because Eddie and Loren refuse to discuss it or tell anybody about it. All that is known is that he was staying with a couple of siblings, Jeremy and Leah, and that Leah at one point drove Eddie back to LA. It's also known, thanks to Chloe Carter and her unbelievably nosy friend Lily Park that Lia kissed Eddie when they were staying at a motel trying to stay away under the radar of the police.

Before Loren's memory concert was to be held everybody found out that Eddie was still alive but Loren decided to go through with the concert anyway. She really wished that Eddie could be there, but she really wanted him to stay away so that he wouldn't get caught by the cops, who were sure that he was the one throwing Chloe over the railing. No one knew the truth and Tyler did everything to convince Chloe that Eddie was the one to blame. When the concert started Loren interrupted her singing thinking she saw Eddie but convinced herself that it was a mistake. She started all over after making a joke about it. Eddie was hiding up with the lights after he left Loren a note to meet him up at their spot. Suddenly he believed the police had spotted him and runs out. When he left his scarves fell to the ground and when Loren found it she realized that he had been there watching her.

After the concert Loren never got Eddie's note. She packed up her things and left in the limousine. Suddenly she asked the driver to stop and to drive her home. She had this feeling that she just had to drive up to her and Eddie's spot before she left for New York and a music festival that Kelly arranged for her to perform at. The feeling was so strong and she just couldn't leave before paying a visit there. When she came up there and saw Eddie all her fear and sorrow just disappeared in an instant. The love that they shared, and share, made her relax and realize that everything would be ok. When they had hugged and kissed for a short while the cops turned up and Loren's whole world was shattered once again.

_"Ssssh… Sweetie, why are you crying"? I hear my husband asking me in a low voice. I just slowly shake my head and turn carefully around to face him. "I was thinking about the car accident and everything that happened" I answer him. "That's all gone" he says with a crocked smile. "But there will soon be grieving again in this family, and I don't want anybody to end up like that again" I say. "Don't worry about it" he says. "We have a lot of more time left" he continues. I feel how he wipes away my tears and I just can't tell him the truth. The truth is that the doctor told me more than a week ago that I had only one week left to live, so now I'm living on overtime. I can't tell him that each hour is an extra hour that we weren't supposed to have together. Because if I tell him I know that he won't be able to hide it from the family and I don't want them to know. Everybody knows what's going to happen but they really don't know how soon, they think we have a lot of time left, at least I told them so. I want them to celebrate this weekend and really enjoy life because the mourning will start soon enough. I can't bear knowing that I will cause them pain even if I know that it isn't my fault. But maybe it is, maybe if I wasn't so stubborn and had gone to the doctor right away when I discovered the spot on my belly then I wouldn't been this sick. Maybe I could have had the right treatment in time but now it's too late. I ask my husband to carry me out to the porch again. I want to see the children play their games and hear their laughter. I need to do this before that too is too late._

**That's all for now. I'm going on a trip so that's why I'm posting today and not in the weekend. Next time though will probably be next weekend cause next week I must study for an exam. Please R&R.**

**/K**


	4. Chapter 4 - The first celebration

**A/N: Here's another chapter for you. I still don´t own any rights to anything but the plot.**

**I haven't been writing for the entire week so this one was finished last week. The next chapter is ongoing but it's really hard to get it done with all the fuss that's going on in my life right now. I won't promise you a certain time when I'm going to publish the next chapter but I'll try to publish at least one chapter every week.**

**Please R&R, even if you think the story is bad. I need the comments to develop a good writing skill in English.**

**/K**

4. The first celebration

_When my husband carries me out on the porch I hear someone clear their voice. Then I see a young man stepping up to the place where I am in the arms of my husband, held in a bridal style. Suddenly the young man starts to make a speech and every one of the grownups and teenagers in the garden gathers together in front of us while the small children continues their games. _

_"We're here today to celebrate one of the greatest love stories in the world" he starts of and continues with "The man and the woman you see in front of you have been through some really tough times both separately and together, but in the end their love has made them strong and made them stay together. May that be a lesson to you all, that love can conquer everything. It can conquer lost, trust issues, betrayal and most of all insecurity. These people standing here beside me are a really good role model for all of us when it comes to honesty and friendship, honor and glory. One thing that I learned from these two is that I never, and I really mean never ever, go away from an argument with my love ones without being sure that everything is resolved. Even if it takes me all night, or a couple of days with a night between them"._

_He winks at the audience and some laughter is shared among the grownups in front of me. I know what they are laughing about. I know that the speaker have spent two days straight having a love quarrel with his beloved girl and wouldn't let her go to sleep until they resolved their issue. The young man continues:_

_"Please, now join me in this toast to the most loving and loveable couple of the world. May we all be able to have what those two have together. Congratulations on your wedding day from all of us. Cheers". He finishes his speech, every one joins the toast and my husband puts me down in my rocking chair, kissing me on my forehead. I reach up, cup his cheeks with my weak hands and pull him in for a passionate kiss. The crowd bursts in to cheers and laughter. "And that's people how it should be done" my husband states proudly while he winks at me. A tiny blush creeps up my cheeks which make them turn slightly pink and I tell him that I love him. He says "I love you to, forever and always". I smile and rest my head against the cushion at the back of the rocking chair. I look at all the people that now are walking away from the porch going over to their tables or checking out the children who are playing all sorts of games, in the pool and on the lawn. My daughter walks up to me and asks me if she can help me with something but I tell her no. She then joins the others on the lawn after looking at me one last time with a frown on her face that I really don't want her to have today. I tell her to share her beautiful smile with me, knowing that she can't refuse me anything right now. When everyone has gone back to the partying I close my eyes and remember a lot of celebrations that we have been sharing before in the family._

When the cops took Eddie to the slammer Loren went over there as well. On her way she called Max and Nora, who by the way had spent the night together, and told them that Eddie was back in town and that they had to meet her at the police station. At the station Loren was crying because she couldn't get Eddie out on bail and blamed herself for leading the police to Eddie so that they could arrest him. After a while Chloe Carter turned up and did the only honest thing that she ever have done and that was to tell the truth, that it was Dylan Boyd, and not Eddie, that threw her of the terrace. Eddie told everyone to go home because no one could get him out of prison at that time of night.

The next day Loren was packing for her trip to New York and the festival where she was supposed to perform. She had sent Adam and Mel down to the car and told them that she just was getting her phone. When she found it there was a knock on the door and when she opened it, thinking that Mel forgot something, she saw Eddie standing there. At first she couldn't believe her eyes but when he told her that she had a nice place she threw herself into his arms and they hugged for a long time. When they let go of each other Loren walked back into the penthouse followed by Eddie who told her that everything was fine and that he was free. He also told her that they had an hour before they were to go to the airport and that he really needed to talk to her. Loren didn't want him to talk, she just wanted to hold him and kiss him and never let go again. Eddie backed away though and said that he really wanted to tell her something. Loren's heart suddenly picked up in speed when she saw Eddie's eyes filled with sadness and regret and she had difficulty breathing. They sat down on the couch and Eddie started to speak.

"Loren I love you with all of my heart and I know trust is an issue for you. Therefore I must tell you what happened during the time we have been separated". He looked directly in to Loren's eyes and held her cheeks in his hands so that she couldn't move away from him.

"What do you want to tell me?" Loren asked. "You know you're scaring me right now?"

"I know I probably do that but you really, really need to know this and discuss it with me without running away before we talked about it properly." He swallowed repeatedly and Loren could tell that he was shaken up.

"Please tell me before I really freak out" Loren begged him and finally Eddie began his story.

"When I saw your text message about us having…" Loren interrupted him.

"You know I didn't send it, right? Please tell me you believe me". By now Eddie had let go of Loren's cheeks. He put a piece of hair that was falling in her face behind her ear, smiled at her and let her know that he had known that all along.

"Yes, I knew that instantly when I saw the text message. It was so unlikely for you to do such a childish thing that it only took me a second to understand that someone else must have done it. But that's not what I was angry about when I left".

"Then what was it"? Loren asked him. Eddie continues.

"When I saw the text I was with Lily Park." Loren shivers at the name but Eddie keeps on talking. "She showed it to me and wondered how I felt about it. I told her that you would never do such a childish thing and if she would comment on it on television I would stop her with everything I got. After that my eyes caught Chloe and Tyler at the bar. I lashed out at her knowing that she was the one who did it. She denied it at first but I wouldn't believe her. I ran out and went over to MK and my dad's apartment. When I got there Chloe showed up. I told her that I was angry with her for what she had done. She was so worried and it suddenly hit me that she couldn't be talking about the text message, there had to be something more that she was anxious for me not to know about. When I told her I was talking about the text I saw a small relief creep over her face and suddenly it hit me, she knew something about the reason I was talking to Lily in the first place. She knew something about who killed my mother. After I had shouted at her a couple of times she finally cracked and told me that Tyler was the one driving the car that made my dad drive of the road".

Loren gasped and couldn't believe her ears. Was Tyler really responsible for Katy's death? Just when she thought about that Eddie continued.

"I then rush down the stairs and sees Tyler sipping on a drink at the bar. Grace tells me that he refuses to leave and I pull him with me to the entrance. When we get there I punch him in the face while he is teasing me about Chloe and how she has played me but also about me being a _pretty boy_. After a while, when we have been punching at one another for a short period of time and we are both gasping for air, I ask Tyler if he is responsible for my mother's death and he tells me to think about that night. He tells me to try to remember me and him drinking and how wasted he got. Then he tells me that he was too drunk to drive and that it was Chloe that drove the car. All of a sudden I get the whole picture, freak out and gets in to my car just speed driving around trying to collect my thoughts".

Loren sat still and didn't want to move one millimeter, afraid that she would stop Eddie's story. But she didn't understand why he had to talk about this right now. She continued to listen to Eddie as he went on.

"Finally I stop my car, go outside and sit on the ground by the front wheel talking to my mother, all in despair, when I suddenly realize that you must be worried sick about me and I try to find my phone only to realize that I left it at MK. I turn the car around and start to drive back home when there's a signal telling me that I need gas. I drive to the nearest gas station to fill up. Suddenly a man walks up to me, complementing my car and my music, asking for an autograph for his girlfriend. I sign it and then I walk behind the station to use the rest room. All of a sudden I get hit in the head and passes out. Next thing I know is when I wake up in this tiny shed in the place of nowhere".

As Eddie took a deep breath Loren could see him tensing up and a frown appearing on his face. She suddenly realized that the thing he had to talk to her about is about to come out of his mouth. The silence spread around them as Eddie tried to calm down and continue his story.

"I woke up in a shed on a small farm just outside Ojai. Two siblings, Jeremy and Lia, had found me outside the gas station and recognized me. Since they knew I was wanted by the police they took me home to their place, took care of my wounds and nursed me until I was fit to come back here".

Loren still didn't understand what he was so uptight about. Eddie took a deep breath and told her the rest of the story.

"During the time in the shed all I could think about was you. I dreamt about you and I even saw you standing or sitting next to me when I was awake. I kept begging Jeremy and Lia to contact you and finally Jeremy called my dad who didn't really believe him. Pops showed up at the gas station with Nora and that freaked Jeremy out to the point that he started to see that it was best for me to return to LA as soon as I got better. Lia didn't like it though and talked him in to letting me stay for another day or so. One evening I talked Lia in to letting me watch TV and that's when I saw an interview with you where you were talking about the memory concert in my honor. Then I realized that I had to contact you and ran from them, went down to the gas station and that's when I tried to call you but got stopped by Lia who was furious with me".

Loren could see that every time Eddie mentioned Lia's name he got tense and clenched his fists hard in his lap. He couldn't really look at her which made her nervous. What had really happened between Eddie and Lia? Why wouldn't Lia let him leave? Loren shrugged her shoulders and sat up straight waiting for the rest of the story. Eddie noticed that she changed the way she sat next to him and started to speak again, now with a lot of sadness in his voice.

"After a couple of more days I was moving around by myself, almost to the point that I was fully recovered. I told Jeremy that I was going home, with or without their help. Lia realized that I wasn't kidding so she offered to help. I'd rather have Jeremy to go with me but he had to work so I had no choice. We went back to LA, checked in to a motel and had to stay in the same room since the money wouldn't cover two rooms".

A small drip of perspiration formed on Loren's forehead as she thought about what could have happened on the motel since Eddie now was pale and staring at her with really sad eyes. Her heart threatened to jump out of her chest and she really, really, REALLY wanted Eddie to be done with his story, but then maybe she didn't. What had actually happened? Eddie took a deep breath, picked up one of Loren's hand in both of his and continued.

"When we were at the motel a lot happened. Lia went out to buy food, I couldn't stand for you not to know that I was ok so I went to an internet café to post on your fan webpage and when I came back to the hotel room Liakissedme". Eddie talked so fast that Loren almost didn't hear what he said. But then it sunk in to her, Eddie had kissed another girl while they were apart. Loren felt her hand being crushed under Eddie's grip and heard him say.

"Please Loren. Talk to me. I love you. Please, I didn't kiss her back. It was all her and not me. I love you so much and I pushed her away as soon as it happened. Please tell me that you believe me. I love you to the moon and back, forever and always. Please, please, pretty please believe me". Eddie continued to beg Loren to talk to him but she zoned out. Then all of a sudden she realized what he had said, he hadn't kissed Lia back. He loved her, he loved plain Loren Tate from the Valley.

"I love you to Eddie, and I believe you but don't you ever do anything like that to me again. Whenever you get upset please get in contact with me and talk to ME, not anybody else. If we are to get this relationship going and be a couple we have to talk to each other, truthfully and always".

"I promise", Eddie stated with anxiousness in his voice. "As long as you promise me the same and that you will always believe in us".

"I promise and I will also promise to love you always and forever" Loren finished their conversation with those words and then she kissed a surprised Eddie with all that she got and then some more. "Promise that we won't go to sleep angry at each other and that we always checks to see that we are on the same page after a quarrel before we go our separate ways" she said when she broke the kiss. Eddie could only nod in agreement; there were no chance that he could say another word right then. He had to swallow repeatedly to prevent the tears from falling from his eyes but instead of speaking he kissed her again.

All of a sudden they were startled by Loren's phone which started playing Eddie's song _One day at a time_. Eddie smiled but told her that it was a really bad version of his song. Loren explained that it was a recording that Melisa and Adam had done during Eddie and Loren's concert, so it was because of that it was a bad recording. But she also explained to him that she loved the song. He said to her that he thought that her version from the night before was so much better and with that Loren rang back to whomever it was that had called her.

It turned out to be Kelly wondering where they were. Loren and Eddie rushed over to the airport as soon as they realized that they were late. When they entered the plane Max and Nora were sitting across each other talking while Jake and Kelly were sitting across from each other listening to a recording from Lia and Jeremy, who turned out to be musicians to. The only repayment they wanted from Eddie, for keeping him safe, was for him to listen to some music that they had recorded so that he did and then he passed it on to Jake and Kelly. If they thought it was great Eddie wanted them to pass it on to another manager so that the siblings could get signed.

As Loren and Eddie were spotted by the others they were made fun of because they were late but they were forgiven for that because Eddie had been dead a couple of days, as Max stated it. Eddie told everybody that now there were new times that would begin with this trip and that he was so proud of Loren. He gave her a deep passionate kiss and she responded to it immediately. Suddenly they heard someone clearing their throat and Max told them to stop. "You better stop before you swallow each other. You're making an old man blush" he said with a giggle. Nora laughed and agreed with him before she kissed Max lightly on his lips. Loren couldn't help it but just blurted out "Look who's talking", making everybody laugh.

_As I remember the good times a small blush creeps up my cheeks and my husband whispers in my ear "What are you dreaming of? I would really like to know since it makes you blush". He chuckles and looks me in the eyes. "Just remembering another time of joy" I say with a small voice. "Are you tired?" he asks me. I answer him no and want him to let me stay out on the porch, but then I ask him to pick up a lounger for me to lie in so that I can rest my back for a while since it is hurting. When he goes out on the lawn I suddenly feel a sharp pain at my lower back and realizes that I really need to use the restroom. As he walks away from me I try to call for him but to no success. My voice cracks up and a hoarse sound comes out of my mouth and no one is close enough to hear me. I feel some heat between my buttocks and starts crying silently. How can this be? I'm not that old. Why can't I be healthy and manage to take care of myself? Why did this have to happen to me? Why do I have to lean on other people to be able to live in my own house and not on some institution? Why can't I be the one that walks around in the sun enjoying conversations and the weather?_

_Then my husband walks up on the porch with a sun lounger and asks me what's wrong. Why I am crying. I tell him that I really need to go to the restroom and that I want the nurse with me, not him. I can see the hurt in his eyes but I really don't want him to see me like this, to help me with this intimate thing. He did it once and I felt so ashamed so I don't want that to happen again. He picks me up carefully and carries me to the specially built bathroom and calls out for the nurse. When I am done in the bathroom he picks me up again and carries me back to the porch. I put my arms around his neck and don't let go. "Please let me sit on your lap, just for a little while" I whisper softly into his ear. "I really need to do that right now" I tell him. He looks at me with a questioning look but sits himself down on a chair with me in his lap. If it was up to me I would stay like this for the rest of my days and not move and inch. "I love you forever and always, don't ever forget that" he whispers in my ear and I smile at him telling him that I love him to. _

**Please R&R.  
Have a great day!  
/K**


	5. Chapter 5 - 2nd, 3rd and 4th celebration

**Hello!**

**Time for another chapter. I'm so sorry for the delay. My life has been hectic and that's why I haven't been updating the story. I'll try to do another chapter this weekend but I can't promise you anything. Three more weeks and then I won't have so much on my schedule and I probably will have some more time to write. **

**Please R&R if you want me to continue the story. **

**/K**

5. The second, third and fourth celebration

_As I sit at my husband's knee I feel him rubbing my back in small circles with the fingertips of his right hand. His left hand is resting on my lap holding me gently so that I don't fall to the ground. My head is resting on his shoulder and his head is resting on mine. Everything feels so peacefully although there's a party and lots of fun going on at the pool and on the lawn. As I look around the garden I see all of the people that have become an important part of my life in the last 10 years or so, that have become a part of my family. First of all there's Adriana, the girl that made the girls in her school fear her because she was the queen bee of West Valley High. Shortly before it was time to graduate her father died in an explosion at the clinic that he worked at. By Aid's side I see Phil, her husband and Melisa's brother, rubbing Aid's stomach. She's eight months pregnant with her third child, another girl, so she's rather big right now. Their first two children, Gus Junior and Melinda, are running around in the garden playing tag with some of the other children. When Melinda, only three years old falls on her face Phil helps her up, kisses her knees and wipes of her tears. Who could have thought all those years ago that Phil would be the perfect husband and father? A real softy I might ad. Another memory movie starts playing in my head._

After Loren made a perfect performance in New York and spent the night with Eddie, Max, Nora, Jake and Kelly at a hotel, everyone returned to LA only to find out that Phil and Aid got engaged. Shortly after the newly engaged couple were looking for a place to live because Lisa, Mel's and Phil's mother, was hustling the teens all day long every day, about everything, and Aid couldn't take it anymore. That's when Nora and Max decided to give Nora's house to them and go live in another bigger house. They did keep Max's apartment over the bar though because they wanted to be able to stay there when they were working the late shift at the bar. The move from the small house to the bigger one wasn't easily done but they did it eventually with a lot of help from friends and family. They left all their furniture in the old house for Phil and Adriana because Max and Nora wanted new furniture for the house and Phil and Aid didn't have a lot of money to go shopping.

After Adriana and Phil had moved in to the house it only took a couple of months until Gus Junior arrived. It was an evening in November and everyone was doing their own thing at their own place. Nora and Max had a lovely evening in front of the television eating take out at home. Eddie and Loren were having a studio session to record a duet. They had decided to make _One day at a time_ in to a duet, record it and put it on both their albums. Aid was walking in to the kitchen to make dinner when she felt a sharp pain to her stomach and suddenly she felt a warm feeling between her legs.

"My water broke", she shouted out loud. Phil came running from the living room with concern written all over his face.

"What did you say?" he asked Adriana.

"My water broke and I have a sharp pain in my stomach" she answered Phil while gasping for air because the pain was consuming her.

Phil started to run around like crazy doing nothing really. Suddenly Aid shouted out

"Stop Phil!" and Phil froze.

Aid was now breathing regularly again and told Phil to call Nora, Melisa and Loren to tell them what was going on. Then she told him to pick up the suitcase in the hall closet and start the car. While Phil was calling Nora, Aid screamed in pain and Nora told Phil to take care of Aid and that she would call the others. Phil rushed out to the car with the suitcase loading it in to the trunk, started the car and drove off. A couple blocks away he discovered that he forgot Adriana at home. He put his foot on the brakes as hard as he could and the car came to a sudden stop. He backed up and ran into the house to pick up Aid, helped her into the car and then drove to the hospital. When they arrived everyone else, that is Nora, Max, Melisa, Loren and Eddie was there waiting for them. Nobody had called Lisa and Gus cause Aid didn't want them there because Lisa freaked her out.

"What took you so long?" Nora asked.

"Phil drove away without me at first", Adriana explained while a nurse put her in a wheel chair and told the others to wait in the waiting room while they would examine Aid.

Max laughed and told Phil that he neither was the first one nor would he be the last one to do that, to leave his wife at home while she was in labor.

"Don't you dare to do anything like that when it's our time to go into the delivery room", Loren told Eddie, who didn't really know how he should react to that statement. After a while he said:

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Loren smiled at Eddie when she saw him nervously scratching his neck and some sweat drops forming on his forehead.

"Don't worry; it won't be for another couple of years". Loren said whit a chuckle. Eddie sighed in relief and so did Max and Nora who had been listening intensely. When Loren finished her statement a smile appeared on Max's face and he said:

"Not that I don't want grandchildren in the future, but I'm still too young to be a granddad".

"That goes for me to" Nora said. "I'm too young to be a grandma that is".

"Of course you are" Eddie told them. "You're still young enough to have your own children", he continued with a wink.

Nora's eyes almost popped out and her cheeks turned bright reed while Max started to laugh an embarrassed laugh. Loren got a feeling that something wasn't the way it was supposed to be but had no time to reflect on it because the nurse came out and told Phil to go to Adriana. Everyone started to ask the nurse a lot of questions and she sad that Aid was completely dilated and was going in to labor soon and that the only one allowed in the delivery room was Phil.

When that was all cleared Nora finally called Lisa and Gus who arrived shortly afterwards. Lisa was so angry at Phil that he hadn't called her immediately and Nora tried to explain to her that it was their decision, not hers. That it was Aid and Phil who was going to be parents, not her. After debating almost 20 minutes Gus told Lisa to be quiet or she probably wouldn't be able to see her grandchild at all. At least not if Adriana heard about how she was talking back to Nora, the only woman Aid had any connection with and any respect for.

Four hours later a tired but happy Phil showed up in the waiting room with a smile plastered all over his face. He said:

"It's a boy, 20.5 inches long and 9 lb. 14.7 oz. heavy, and everyone is doing fine". He took a deep breath when he saw his mother and father and then he continued "and his name is Gus Jr.". At those words everyone cheered and congratulated Phil and slapped him friendly on the back. The women gave him hugs and Lisa started to cry. Gus was so happy and wanted nothing more than to talk about his namesake, the child that his son had fathered. Phil turned around and went back to Aid and his son while the rest of the people were talking and smiling. About an hour later the nurse came and fetched Lisa, Gus and Nora. They walked in and looked at the baby and talked to the new parents. Aid told everyone that she was fine and that Gus Jr. was doing fine. She also explained to Lisa why she didn't want her and Gus there from the beginning:

"I am really, really grateful for everything that the both of you have done for me since my father died in the explosion but I really, really need to learn how to take care of me, my fiancé and my son without any help. I will call you when I need help but if I don't try it on my own I will never find out if I'm capable to do it by myself".

Lisa sniveled and told her that she understood. Her own mother had been smothering her with good advice when she got Phil and she felt that the only way her and Gus could get a chance to raise their own child was to move to another town, which they did. Lisa gave Aid a huge hug and they decided that if and when Aid and Phil felt that they needed help with Gus Jr. or anything else they would contact Lisa and Gus and that they would stay away when they weren't needed. This was a big relief for both Phil and Adriana who thought that they would be really mad at them for not letting them be in their face all the time. Just when Lisa was giving Aid a hug the rest of the extended family, Loren, Eddie and Melisa, entered the room and everyone smiled at the new family. Suddenly Gus Jr. gave up a cry and Aid took him from Gus to breastfeed him. Everyone, except for Phil, left the room and went home.

A couple of months later Aid and Phil were going to christening Gus Jr. Everyone of their closest friends were invited and it was going to be a nice event. Two weeks before the happening Aid called Nora and told her that she and Phil wanted to talk to Nora and Max. When they arrived at the old Tate house, which was now a Masters and Sanders house, they were invited by two shy kids that didn't know how to ask the older couple what they wanted. After they had been beating about the bush for a while Phil suddenly asked Max if it was ok if they had the christening ceremony in his and Nora's garden.

"But of course" Max answered. "But why? Why don't you have it in your parent's garden Phil?"

"Because we want to get married at the same time" Aid blurted out in a scared tone. "I don't want anybody to know before the ceremony and that's why we want to do it at your place".

"And we want you to be our witnesses" Phil said.

"Of course we will hold the ceremonies in our garden" Nora said and then she turned around to Max and said "Right Max?"

"But of course. And I will be honored to be one of your witnesses".

"How about clothes and food and everything else?" Nora asked.

"We haven't decided on anything yet because of the cost but now that we know that we can hold it in your place we can plan the rest of it. I will be cooking" Adriana said.

"Not at all" Max said. "Me and Nora will pay for the whole thing and"

By now Phil interrupted Max and said:

"No way. We will pay for it ourselves".

"Please Phil" Nora said. "Please let that be Max's and my present to you and Aid on your wedding day and Gus Jr.'s christening present".

"That's very sweet of you Nora, but" Aid started.

"No buts" Nora said. "If we are going to host the thing than I want to fix and pay for everything but you can decide the way you want it to turn out, the food, the clothes, everything".

Phil and Aid looked at each other and shook their heads but big smiles were spreading across their faces.

"OK" they both said at the same time.

Adriana and Nora started to discuss clothes, food and porcelain and Max looked at Phil who just shook his head. The both men smiled at each other and went to grab themselves some beer from the fridge.

"So, you're going to be a married man Phil" Max said.

"Yup" Phil said and continued "I can't wait".

"Maybe I should marry Nora" Max thought out loud.

"That would be great" Phil said. "Why don't you do it at the same time as us? We could do a double wedding" he continued.

"Maybe" Max said. "But please don't tell Aid or Nora. I haven't even proposed yet".

"If you do it before our wedding, we, me and Aid, would be honored if you would walk down the aisle at the same time as us" Phil told Max who just smiled from ear to ear. A pleasant thought was going through his mind.

The evening came to an end and Nora and Max went home. On the way home they were both really silent and all you could hear were the car engine running and the traffic surrounding them. Max was so caught up in his thoughts that Nora had to shout at him a couple of times and lightly nudge him on his arm before she got his attention. Finally he looked over at her and asked her:

"What's up honey?" Nora smiled.

"What's up with you? You were really far out in your mind, weren't you?"

"I was thinking about something Phil said" Max answered.

"What did he say" Nora asked.

"It was just a guy thing" Max told her.

"Nothing bad I hope?" Nora continued.

"Not at all but I can't discuss it with you right now" Max told her.

"Oh" Nora sighed. Then she continued "What do you think about having the wedding ceremony first and then the christening? I think that we should set up the altar with the christening bowl on the porch but when everybody is waiting for the christening to start Aid and Phil could walk in and get married. If we do so we can make flower arrangements around the doorframes and around every part of the porch without it looking suspiciously. We can put chairs on the lawn and make an aisle in the middle between them, covered with white stones that lead from the pool house to the porch. We've been talking about that anyhow, right? And then we can put flowers in vases around the path and some around the pool to".

"That sounds good" Max said. "I will call the garden constructor tomorrow".

"Do you think he can finish it up in only two weeks?" Nora asked.

"Of course he will. We will make this happen" Max told Nora with a huge smile.

With that the conversation was over and Max went back to his thoughts. He was thinking that maybe Phil was right; maybe he should ask Nora to marry him and go through with a double wedding with him and Adriana. Why not? He thought to himself.

A day later Max had decided to ask Nora to marry him. He had closed down MK for the night, filled it with flowers and made the place totally romantic with the help of his barkeeper Grace. He had asked Eddie, Loren, Melisa and Ian to meet him at MK at six o'clock in the evening and Nora to be there at seven. When the kids walked in at ten past six Max met them at the entrance of the club and he was so nervous. He could hardly speak but after clearing his throat a couple of times he said:

"Hey kids, I wanted to ask you a question".

"Ok" Eddie and Loren said at the same time and glanced at each other with questioning looks.

"This question goes for you to Mel" Max said.

Now everyone was confused and just looked at each other.

"What did you want to ask us, Pops?" Eddie asked his father.

"Well…" Max hesitated.

"Just get it over with, you're killing us" Ian blurted out.

"Ok, here it goes" Max started. "What do you think about me proposing to your mom, Loren? What do you think about me marrying Nora, Eddie? Would that be ok with you Mel?" Max talked so fast that the kids hardly heard him but when it all sank in everyone cheered and Mel said:

"It's about time you step up and make an honest woman out of my extra mom".

Everyone laughed.

"What about you Loren? What do you think about it?" Max asked Loren. "What do you think about me being your dad?"

"I would love that. I so love you Pops and I know my mom does to" Loren said a bit hesitantly.

"What's wrong, Lo?" Eddie asked her.

"That would make you my brother" Loren said. "Wouldn't that be weird for you? What will the paparazzi think?"

"Who gives a damn?" Eddie tells her. "For the first time in a very long time Pops you have made a really good decision. I would love to have Nora in our family, not only as my future mother in law, but also as my mother".

"Great" Ian said. "Isn't it time for a celebration?" he said and draw a curtain to the side and stepped in to the actual club. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw all the flowers and the champagne, strawberries and all the other little arrangements that Grace had done during the day.

"Wow, Max. You have really gone out of the way to make this woman feel special" Ian commented.

Everyone looked in the room and they were in awe of how beautifully the room was set up.

"Please hurry up and go in the back. Nora is pulling up in the front" one of the security guards, who worked up front, told them.

Everyone but Max walked back stage and waited for the moment when Max was going to pop the question.

As Nora walked in the room she just couldn't believe her eyes. She looked around and saw every little detail Max had put together just for her. She saw him standing in front of the stage with a small table in front of him, a bottle of champagne and strawberries placed on it. There were also a couple of chairs and she went up to him.

"Max, you shouldn't have gone through all this trouble just for me" Nora told him.

"This was no trouble at all" Max said. "Please, be seated" he told Nora after placing a small kiss on her lips. "You look beautiful, the color red suits you" he said and that made Nora blush.

"Thank you" Nora said. "It's just a little dress that Loren and Mel helped me pick up the other day".

"Yay" Mel whispered to Loren backstage. "It's the right dress for the right moment" she continued.

Loren could only nod and the guys looked at them suspiciously.

"You will see later" Mel whispered with a huge grin on her face.

"Let's just hope that she's wearing it with the new heels" Loren said.

Suddenly they heard a chair scraping the floor and everyone went silent. They peeked from behind the curtain and saw Max going down on one knee which made Nora gasp and put her hands in front of her mouth.

"Dear Nora" Max started out. "You came in to my life at a time when I was just healing from the worst time of my life. You put a smile back on my face and made me feel like life was worth living again. The first time I saw you, you took my breath away, and you still do every time I lay my eyes on you. As soon as I think of you a smile appears on my face and my heart skips a beat".

"Yes that smile is definitely back because of Nora" Ian whispered.

"Schhhh" Mel and Loren told him while Eddie just smiled at them.

"Every day I wake up and I wonder how on earth I could be so lucky as to have you in my life. I never want to lose that feeling. I always want to wake up with you by my side and the first thing I want to see is your smile. I want us to live together for ever and ever. So" Max took a deep breath "Nora will you do me the honor of being my wife? Forever and always?"

Nora just stared at the ring that Max had pulled out of a small heart shaped ring box. She was almost in shock; this was not what she had expected at all.

"Nora?" Max said.

Loren, Mel, Ian and Eddie just looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. Why wasn't she ecstatic and said yes right away?

"Nora?" Max asked one more time with a voice filled with sorrow and you could hear that he was on the verge of crying.

Nora put her hands on Max's cheeks and starred into his eyes. Then she said with a very small voice "Yes" and the she kissed him. "Yes I will marry you" she said with a little bit stronger voice. "Yes, yes, yes".

Suddenly the kids couldn't stay silent anymore. The ran out from the curtains and cheered and shouted congratulations to the couple that now were on their knees on the floor kissing each other totally oblivious to the rest of the world. The rest of the evening the six people spent together, eating dinner, talking and celebrating the engagement. After the first glass of champagne Nora said to Max that she wasn't drinking anymore and Loren wondered why. When Nora saw Loren's confused look she looked at Max and nodded in Loren's direction.

"Please Nora, just tell them" Max said.

"Are you sure?" Nora asked him.

"Yes" he said.

"What are you talking about?" Loren asked them and everyone looked curiously at the couple.

"Ok, here we go. I'm, no, we are pregnant" Nora said as she blushed and looked down at the table.

"Yay" Mel shouted out followed by everyone else.

"Are you ok with this Lo?" Nora asked her.

"But of course mom" Loren said. "I have had my suspicions about this for a while, especially since you ran out of breakfast last week and were sick but went back to the table and finished your food directly afterwards" Loren continued with a smile.

"Why haven't you said anything?" both Mel and Eddie asked her.

"I thought that this was up to mom and Max to tell us and that they should be telling us in their own time".

"Thanks honey" Max said and gave her a hug.

The evening continued and when it ended Ian drove Mel home, Eddie and Loren went to their penthouse and Max and Nora went to their house.

"You have been really quiet tonight" Ian told Melisa. "Is everything ok?" he asked her.

"No" she said and started to cry silently. Ian pulled up to the curb and turned to face her so that he could look at her as he talked to her. He took her hands in his and they just disappeared in his big ones. "Talk to me Mel. Tell me what's wrong".

"I don't know" Mel said shaking her head. "Loren is with Eddie and is happy. Nora is now engaged to Max and she is happy and then there is me".

"But you and Adam are great together, aren't you?" Ian asked her quietly.

"No" Mel whispered softly as the tears started to flow down her cheeks even if she tried not to cry. Ian hardly heard her but suddenly he got it. Mel and Adam had broken of their relationship. His heart skipped a beat and he lifted Mel's chin softly with his hand. He looked straight in to her eyes and asked her:

"Are you to no longer together?"

"No" Mel whispered. It seemed to be the only word she could say, no other word would come out of her mouth.

Ian gently stroke away her tears and then he said "When did this happen?"

"A couple of days ago, almost a week" Mel said with a small voice.

"Why haven't you told anyone?"

"Nobody seemed to notice what was going on and nobody seemed to care because of Gus Jr. and everything that is going on in everyone's life" Mel said. "And you were out of town".

"But you could have called me" Ian said.

"I know that you are Eddie's and Loren's friend but you and I are not really that close I thought" Mel told him.

"But now you know you can call me at any time about anything" Ian told her as he gave her a small hug. "Please think of me as your friend that you actually can confide in".

"Ok" Mel said as a small blush covered her cheek.

Ian turned over, fastened his seatbelt again and started the car. A moment later they were at Mel's house. She thanked him for the ride and went inside. Suddenly she felt a little less sad and she thought that it had everything to do with Ian.

Two weeks later everyone was gathered at the Tate's and Duran's house for the christening of Gus Jr. and they were seated at some chairs in the back yard. Loren and Melisa came walking down the white path wearing similar light purple dresses that ended just below the knee. Mel was carrying Gus Jr. who was asleep in her arms. Loren carried a bouquet of roses and a candle. Eddie and Ian, who wore white shirts and light pants, were standing at the side of the altar that was set up on the porch. The priest began to speak.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness not one, not two, but three happy occasions. I hope you will follow my lead as I talk you through them. It is the participant's wishes that you don't in any way interrupt the ceremony and respect that. But now we would like to start this celebration".

Everybody looked at each other with concerned faces and stared at Mel, Loren, Eddie and Ian but they just smiled. Suddenly a band started to play a melody and a woman started to sing _From this moment,_ a song that Aid loved. When they turned to the stage set up behind the pool every ones saw Shania Twain singing the song. When the second verse was on Eddie and Loren gestured to the end of the path, everyone turned around and there they were, Adriana and Phil, Max and Nora. All dressed up in wedding clothes. Aid and Nora wore similar white wedding dresses; Aid's ended right by her knees in the front and at the ground in the back and Nora's went all the way down to the ground the whole way around. The both brides carried a bouquet of red roses and white lilies each. Phil and Max wore white shirts and light pants and each had a red rose tucked in the pocket of the shirt. When everyone saw the two couples in front of the pool house they gasped and Lisa started to cry. Gus Sr. was forced to hold her up; she almost fell out of shock.

The couples walked down the aisle and when they reached the altar there were a short ceremony. When the time came to the vows the band started to play again and another woman sang _How do I live without you_, one of Nora's favorite song, and the woman singing was no other than Leann Rimes. The couples than said their vows and suddenly the ceremony was over. It all ended with another song, a song that Eddie and Loren had written just for this moment, and performed for the newlyweds, a song about love, trust and happiness. Instead of the couples walking back the aisle the christening began and Gus Jr. was christened with Melisa and Loren as his Godparents. At the end of the whole ceremony the priest presented the newlyweds and Gus Jr. to the guests. Max and Nora welcomed everyone to their home and told them that there were now time for celebration and that everyone were welcome to attend the diner inside the house, that there would be dancing and partying all night long in the garden. Everyone congratulated the couples and went over to the dinner.

The party went on and on and at four o'clock in the morning it was still going on but by then it was almost only Eddie, Loren, Melisa, Ian and a couple of their friends left.

"One day that's going to be us getting married" Eddie whispered in Loren's ear as they were cuddle up at one of the loungers in the back yard. Loren turned around and kissed him. They slowly turned around and watched the dance floor where the only two people slow dancing were Mel and Ian. Ian's eyes had been glued to Mel the entire night and Eddie had repeatedly told Loren that there was something going on between them but Loren had told Eddie that Mel wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her relationship to Adam. Suddenly they saw Mel taking Ian's face between her hands and planting a soft kiss on Ian's mouth. Loren gasped and looked at Eddie. She couldn't believe her eyes.

_When I remember the time when we learned that Adam and Mel had finished their relationship and when we realized that Ian was in love with Mel a shiver goes down my spine. I feel cold and I want nothing more than to lie down with my husband and wrap a blanket around us staying out on the porch for the rest of the night. When my husband feels me tighten up he asks me what's wrong and I tell him that I want to lie down with him on the lounger, watching the people that are surrounding us. I don't ever want to go back in to the house again. The little life I have left in me I want to use to spend time with my love ones, not in a bed where everyone will look at me with pity in their eyes._

_All of a sudden I hear an alarm go of in my pocket. My husband hears it to. We both look at each other in disbelief. It's an alarm that we have been waiting for, for at least the last year. Or isn't it? Is it something else? Or can this be happening? Can there be a chance for me to survive this dreaded disease? Is there a chance that I will continue to see my loved ones growing up and becoming grownups? I don't know and I don't want to put my hopes up. I put my hand in my pocket, pulling out the beeper and handing it to my husband. He slowly turns it around and looks at it hesitantly. He slowly looks into my eyes and I can see tears forming in his eyes. Are they happy tears or are they sad ones? I'm not sure._

**Thank you for reading this very long chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Please R&R.**

**/K**


	6. Chapter 6 - Good things after a breakup

**A/N I'm so, so sorry for not updating sooner but my workload with school exams and my work is killing me. Now that I've graduated (I graduated early) I hopefully will have some more time to write on my story. I've been reading up on other stories though and I must say that there are a lot of great writers out there. I'm not sure which story is my absolute favorite anymore because there are so many good ones. **

**Some of you have commented on that my story reminds you of the movie ****_The Notebook_**** which made me go to the store and buy it because I haven't seen it before so when I have a break in a couple of weeks I'm going to watch it for the very first time. To tell you the truth I haven't seen the other film you've been mentioning either ****_Titanic_**** but I will try to watch it to.**

**Now over to my story. Since i didn't want to wait to long before posting I haven't been checking my spelling and grammar as much as I should this time but at least I've finally posted another chapter. I'll try to do another chapter from time to time but I can't promise when that will be because of my workload and that I'm trying to get another job that will pay more and that will have a nicer boss that actually cares about his or her employees. On Monday October 28 I am going on an interview for a new job and I'm really keeping my fingers crossed. That's all for now.**

**Please read and review.**

**/K**

6. Good things came out of a breakup that no one noticed

_As I look in to my husband's eyes I see them filling up with more and more tears, and I'm still not sure if they're happy or sad ones. Suddenly he starts shaking his head and I feel a lump in my throat. Does this mean that I'm not up for treatment this time neither? How am I supposed to be a mother to my children when they need me? How am I supposed to be a grandmother to my grandchildren? _

_When I look at the beeper I realize that it is the code for calling the hospital. Since I've been living on borrowed time for a while I know that it's important that every signal from the beeper is answered so I take my phone and dial the number to the hospital that I have on speed dial. I wait and I wait and I wait. Suddenly a nurse answers and says:_

_"Finally you're calling. We have been waiting for your call. Will you please hold for the doctor?"_

_"Of course" I reply. While I am waiting there's a song playing on the phone. It is Eddie's _Something in the air_ and I hope that it is a premonition of what the doctor wants to talk to me about. That he has some good news. As I wait my eyes wander around the people in the backyard and my eyes catches Melisa waving at me. I send her a small smile and my thoughts begin to wander away._

After the double wedding and christening everyone had a great time celebrating the newlyweds and the new member of the family. The celebration went on until five in the morning, but at midnight a limousine came to pick Adriana and Phil up. They were so surprised. It was a present from Eddie and Loren, who wanted to surprise the newlyweds with a trip to Hawaii for a week. First they were going by limousine to the airport, from there with a private yet to the island and from the Hawaiian airport they were going to get another limousine to the hotel. In the limousine that picked them up at Nora's and Max's house there were champagne and strawberries covered with chocolate and a lot of other fruits. At first the young couple had wanted to take Gus Jr. with them but Lisa and Gus Sr. talked them into going on the trip by themselves. Aid wasn't too thrilled to leave Gus Jr. behind but Phil talked her into it and away they went. Their bags were packed by Melisa and fortunately she had packed Gus Jr's clothes in a separate bag so that it could be left behind with him and his grandparents.

An hour after Aid and Phil left another limousine, a white Hummer, arrived and took Max and Nora on their honeymoon. The car wasn't taking them far away, they were only going to the beach house for a couple of weeks but what Nora and Max didn't know was that Loren and Eddie had stashed the house with everything that newlyweds could need and filled the house with flowers, champagne and everything else you need for a romantic getaway. They had also installed a hot tub in the back yard and surrounded it with a beautiful fence covered with red roses that grew on the ground climbing up the fence and that made the hot tub secluded so that nobody could see them taking a bath. On the mantelpiece there were a card with a married couple on the outside that said:

"Have a great honeymoon and don't do anything that we wouldn't do…"

Inside the card it said:

"…If we were married and all alone without neighbors".

Below the text there were a picture of Eddie and Loren smiling and waving. When Nora read the card she blushed and Max just laughed.

"That's our kids, you know" he said while shaking his head.

"Yes, it is" Nora replied with a smile.

Two weeks later the honeymoon was over without any disturbance and it was time to return to LA. Max and Nora were packing their things when Max said:

"I never thought I would say this because when Katie died I never thought that there could be any happy times up here anymore but these two weeks have been really great. I wish we didn't have to go home again".

"It has been a great time but we really need to get home. It's time to visit the doctor and take an ultrasound to check out the baby". When Nora were finishing her sentence she rubbed her stomach and smiled at Max who reached out to her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him with her back to his chest. Then he put both of his hands on her stomach and held it gently while he said:

"This summer we will have one of the best summers ever with these blessing coming to us. We will be having another child and our big children will be out on tour together".

"Do you really consider this a blessing?" Nora asked Max.

"Of course I do" Max answered. "Are you regretting this?" he asked Nora.

"No, not really" she answered hesitantly "but I'm not sure what Eddie and Loren really think about it".

"They said that they were fine about it. Do you not believe in what they told us?"

"I'm not really sure. Only time will tell" Nora said and went over to the door. "Let's get out of here and go home".

While Nora and Max were celebrating their honeymoon a lot happened in LA. At the wedding, when Ian and Melisa had finished dancing, Loren dragged Mel to the living room without so much as a word to Ian, who just stood there dumbfounded and stared at them as they walked into the house. Suddenly you could hear the girls screaming at each other. Eddie got up to Ian and asked him what the hell he was doing with Melisa.

"What do you mean?" Ian asked Eddie.

"Loren and I saw you and Mel kissing on the dance floor, there's no use in denying it" Eddie answered.

"So what?" Ian said.

"You know she's with Adam and we really don't want you to mess up their relationship".

"That boat sailed a long time ago and it was Adam who messed up, not me" Ian stated.

"What?" Eddie said out loud, almost shouting.

"Adam left Mel a couple of days before Max proposed to Nora".

As Eddie heard Ian tell him this he could hardly believe his ears. Loren would be shocked that she had no clue on what was going on in her best friend's life even though they always shared everything with each other before Eddie and Loren met, Eddie thought.

"Why hasn't she said anything?" Eddie asked Ian in a worried tone.

"She didn't want to tell anyone because there was so much going on with everybody and she didn't want to bother you guys with it. I only know because I asked her why she was so silent when I drove her home on the evening of the proposal. That's when she started to cry and told me that she and Adam had broken up almost a week before".

"Poor Mel" Eddie said. "It has to be hard on her".

"Yes it has been hard but we have spent a lot of time together just hanging out, talking and watching movies" Ian told him.

"And kissing?"

"No the kiss on the dance floor was the very first one. I haven't kissed her before because she was hurting and I didn't want to take advantage of her or be her rebound guy".

"Oh – my – God! Ian, I think you have a crush on Melisa" Eddie said with a huge smile on his face. "I've never seen you care about those things before".

"I know" Ian said with a sigh and continued "I've been in love with her, or at least had a crush on her, since the first time I met her at Loren's party. The one we attended just a couple of days after you first met Loren. Do you remember?"

"Oh yes I remember. You were teasing the hell out of me before the party, but you were very silent on our way home. I just thought it was because you were sobering up and getting a headache, like I was".

"Yes, I was teasing you but I had no headache. My mind was filled up with the thoughts of the feisty colorful girl that was doing her best to entertain me while you were flirting with Loren and doing God knows what out in the garden" Ian said and smiled at the memory. "Since then my mind has been occupied with thoughts about Mel and when I finally got her to myself in the car I couldn't help but noticing how silent she was and how the glow that she used to have around her was just gone. I just had to find out what had happened. It hurt me to see her so hurt. After that day we've been hanging out and little by little she has stolen my heart away, and it is now only beating for her".

"I really hope that Mel and Loren are talking about this now and that Loren doesn't shout too much at her friend. That's really not what she needs right now. Is it?" Eddie asked Ian in a worried tone.

"No it's not" Ian said and just as he said that he heard a happy squeal from the living room. "I don't think they are arguing anymore" he told Eddie with a huge grin on his face. Eddie just smiled back.

When Loren grabbed Melisa's hand thousands of thoughts crossed Mel's mind. Why is Loren so upset? was the first question that popped up. After they passed the threshold to the living room Loren closed the doors and yelled at her.

"What the hell are you doing with Ian?"

"What are you talking about?" a puzzled Mel answered.

"You were kissing him on the dance floor. What is Adam going to say about this?" Loren shouted.

"Nothing" Mel shouted back. "That idiot broke up with me almost three weeks ago and you have been too busy to even notice, so don't you yell at me".

Loren just stared at her best friend, not really believing what she said. Could it be right? Had her friend been going through all this and she hadn't even noticed it? How could that be? But suddenly Loren realized she had been so wrapped up with Eddie, the wedding and her own musical career, that she had hardly had any time to meet up with or talk to Mel.

"I'm so, so, so sorry" Loren said hugging her friend. "Why didn't you just call me and tell me what was going on?"

"It's just that you have been so busy with everything and I really didn't want to bother you with this".

"Don't you ever think like that again. You are always going to be my best friend and if you need any support or just want me to listen to you talking about anything you just call me or come visit me. Promise me that" Loren told Mel.

"Okay" Mel said to Loren and continued while blushing "but I haven't been all alone all the time".

"What are you trying to tell me?" Loren asked her.

"You kind of already know" Mel said looking down at her feet.'

Loren just looked at her, not understanding what she was implying. Then suddenly she got it.

"You and Ian?" she asked silently.

"Yup" Mel said.

"When? How? What? Really?" Loren blurted out without giving Mel any time to answer before the last question had left her mouth.

"You know when we left the MK after Max had proposed to Nora?"

Loren could only nod, she didn't want to interrupt Mel's story.

"Well, when Ian drove me home that night he asked what was wrong with me and suddenly I blurted it all out and told him what had happened. While I was telling him I was crying and he was really sweet and tried to comfort me".

I bet he was, Loren thought as she frowned.

"Don't look at me that way" Mel said. "Nothing happened before tonight" she continued.

"Nothing?" Loren asked.

"Nothing" Mel answered. "We have just been hanging out, watching movies and talking. He has been the perfect gentleman not trying to do anything but being a friend. And that has been just what I've been wanting from him. That is until tonight. I just couldn't take it anymore. I just had to kiss him" Mel said as a blush crept on to her cheeks.

"So you've been just friends up until tonight?" Loren asked not really believing what Melisa told her.

Mel just nodded and then she told Loren about how he had called her the day after she told him about the breakup and how they, after that, had started to talk and hang out more and more, until they met every day and talked every morning and every night on the phone. She also told her that she only yesterday realized that she had feelings for him.

At that time it really sank in to Loren's mind that her best friend and Eddie's best friend had become friends while she and Eddie hadn't had any time for them. She now realized that it was a good thing and that Ian really had been there for her friend and had not been taking advantage of her or her unhappiness. It also hit her that this was a really good thing because Mel was happy and that was what really mattered.

"So how was the kiss?" Loren couldn't help asking. "Was it good?"

"Hell yes" Mel told her.

Both girl squealed and hugged each other tightly.

"Let's go out to the boys and not let them wait any longer. It's time we close down this party and snuggle up with our men" Loren said with a smirk.

"Finally" Mel said with a huge smile on her face.

When Loren and Melisa came out to the garden the boys were talking but got quiet as they caught the sight of the girls. When the boys saw the girls smiling, they looked at each other and just smirked. It was definitely time to close this party down. When they looked around they could see that every guest had gone home and it was just the waiters and waitresses left and they were carrying out the last garbage bags. When the hired help had said goodbye Loren and Eddie walked around the premises and locked all gates and doors to the pool house, the garage, the garden and the guesthouse while Ian and Mel walked in to the house and looked it through to check that there were no guests in there.

Eddie suddenly put his arms around Loren and stopped her from walking any further. He pointed to the kitchen windows and when Loren looked at what he was pointing to she saw Ian and Mel kissing wrapped up in each other's arms.

"How do you feel about that" Eddie asked Loren and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"I really don't know to be honest" Loren answered. "I know Ian has a really bad reputation when it comes to women and I really don't want Mel to get hurt. But on the other hand he has been there for her for three weeks without trying to do anything to her that she hasn't initiated, so maybe his intentions are good this time" she finished with a sigh.

"Can you promise me that you won't tell Mel what I'm about to tell you?" Eddie asked her.

"I'll try but it's hard to promise you something like that when I don't know what you are talking about".

"It's about Ian and his feelings for Mel"

"Ian has feelings for Mel?" Loren almost shouted out.

"Schhhh" Eddie tried to silence Loren and luckily Ian and Mel were so occupied with the kissing so they didn't hear her. "Yes but there's more. Can you promise me that you won't tell her?"

"Yes, of course I can when it's something that positive" Loren whispered.

"Ian told me, while you girls were inside, that he has had a crush on Mel since we visited you two out in the Valley the first time and the crush has grown into something more".

Loren just starred at Eddie and could hardly believe what he was telling her.

"I think he really loves her by the look on his face when he looks at her. When she walked out to the garden after you two talked he just lit up like a Christmas tree and a huge smile covered his face. I think Ian finally found his one and only, his soul mate, just like I have" Eddie continued.

Loren turned to Eddie, cupped his face between her hands and gave him a slow and passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his chest.

"I've found my soul mate in you and if Mel and Ian have just a tiny bit of the love that we share, no one will be happier for them than I. Now let's get in there and lock up the house for tonight. We can stay in my room and Mel and Ian can take yours" Loren said winking at Eddie who just smiled and gladly followed her inside.

When they went inside Loren told Eddie that she wanted to have some fun with Mel and Ian and begged him to just follow her lead. Eddie just nodded with a huge smile plastered all over his face. As they turned the corner and came in to the kitchen Loren cleared her throat and Melisa and Ian jumped apart.

"You scared me" Mel said and slapped Loren on her arm.

"I didn't know how else I would get your attention" Loren said. "Now Mel it's time for the boys to go to Eddie's room and you and I are going to sleep at my room".

Loren saw Ian and Mel looking at each other in disbelief. They shook their heads and suddenly Ian said:

"No, I have to take Melisa home tonight so that Lisa won't call the police".

"That's not necessary" Eddie told him. "I heard when Lisa told Mel that she could stay here until Monday because she knew that it would be late before the party was over and that Mel has no work to do on Monday".

"But…" Mel said with a slight hesitation.

Suddenly Loren couldn't take it anymore. She started laughing so hard that it made her stomach hurt and so did Eddie. Ian and Mel just looked at each other all confused.

"You two should've seen the look on your face when I told you about the sleeping arrangements for tonight" Loren said while she was giggling. "It was hilarious".

Eddie just looked at them and grinned. Ian and Mel weren't amused by the two of them and suddenly Ian said:

"Well maybe I should take Mel to my place for the night since you two obviously don't want to hang with us without making fun of us".

"You mean my place?" Eddie asked.

"Whatever" Ian replied.

"No, I was just kidding" Loren said. "You two can stay in Eddie's room for the night and we can stay in my room. Just no funny business" she said as she ran out the door and upstairs. Mel chased after her to get her stuff from Loren's room and move it over to Eddie's. In the meantime Eddie and Ian watched the girls running upstairs. Eddie shook his head while smiling and said:

"What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"I don't know. You tell me" Ian said. "But I wouldn't change it for any money or any other girl in the world".

"Man, that girl has you wrapped around her finger".

"Don't I know it! But it's just like with you and Loren; you wouldn't trade what you two got for anything else in the world. Would you?"

"No, I certainly wouldn't. Now let's see were our girls are and go to bed. Good night Ian".

"Good night Eddie. I'll see you tomorrow".

The following two weeks were slowly passing by and Eddie and Loren were housesitting for Max and Nora while Ian stayed at Eddie's apartment. From time to time Eddie went home to pick up some clothes and every time he found Ian and Mel cuddled up on the sofa. One late night in the middle of the week when Loren and Eddie got over there they caught Mel sitting on the couch dressed in only Ian's shirt and his boxers. Ian came out of the kitchen in to the living room in only his boxers and a sleeveless t-shirt.

"Sooo" Loren started and Mel jumped high. She hadn't heard them coming through the door.

"What the hell" Mel screamed all startled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry" Loren said with a smirk on her face. "I didn't know that we have to knock when we are coming over to Eddie's own home.

"No, no, no" Ian said. "It's all right. But I can't promise you that you won't walk into something that you don't want to see" he told them with a smile looking at Mel who blushed.

"Is that so" Eddie said. "Just make sure that I don't have to call the cleaning service to clean every bit of furniture in the house before I move back here in a couple of days. Keep your funny business to the bedroom, pleeeease" Eddie continued with a laugh.

"Ew, ew, ew" Loren and Mel said at the same time.

"You keep your dirty mind to yourself" Mel said. "There's no funny business going on here" she continued pointing between her and Ian.

"Not that I don't want to" Ian said with a smile.

Mel face went totally red and she ran in to the guestroom and changed her clothes. Loren just glared at Ian and ran after her.

"What did I do now?" Ian asked and shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't you know by now that you can't say those things in front of the girls? It's that kind of discussion you can have amongst guys and NOT tell your girl about. You better go in there and apologize to her" Eddie told him. "Or you are sleeping alone tonight".

"I was going to anyway 'cause she has to be home by midnight" Ian muttered.

"You better do it anyway".

Ian trailed off to the guest room and shortly afterwards Loren came out to Eddie. They went up to Eddie's bedroom and packed some of his stuff up for another couple of days at the family home. When they came back down Mel came running out of the bedroom with Ian chasing after her shouting about how sorry he was and that he would do anything to make it up to her.

"Anything?" Mel asked with a smirk.

"Anything" Ian promised.

"Are you nuts" Eddie told him with a shocked expression on his face. "Can't you tell by that look on her face that she has something evil planed?"

"I don't care. As long as we don't fight" Ian told him.

Loren just shook her head and told Mel to go easy on him and to think about the neighbors. Melisa just looked at her and said:

"It's not going to be anything like what you're thinking about and I will not tell him until your gone so I will keep him on his toes for now".

"Maybe you should go right now" Ian said.

"Yup" Eddie said, picked up his bag and dragged Loren out the door.

Loren and Eddie went home and went to bed. Late in the afternoon the next day Eddie got a phone call.

"It's from my landlord" Eddie said with a frown and picked up the call. Loren just looked at him while he was talking and the more he talked the more his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their eye-sockets. The only words he used were yes sir, no sir, maybe sir, good sir and he finished the call with the words:

"Yes sir, but of course sir, good bye sir".

"What on earth has Mel done this time?" Loren asked.

"I'm not sure but I think that I have new neighbors that are moving in to the pent house across the hall from mine today. You know the only apartment that is up there except for mine" Eddie slowly told her shaking his head.

"You got to be kidding me" Loren said. "How bad is it? Have they destroyed any furniture? Did they do anything to the old neighbors? What really happened?"

Suddenly Eddie just started to laugh uncontrollably and Loren just stared at him. What on earth is going on? she thought. Suddenly Eddie lifted her up and spun her around.

"Grab your bag, we are going to buy a house warming gift to my new neighbors" he said.

Loren just looked at him and shook her head. Now he doesn't make any sense at all she thought.

When they were at the store they bought six beer glasses, six martini glasses and six whiskey glasses with a black drop inside the foot of the glass. It was Swedish crystal from Orrefors called Intermezzo. Then they bought a bottle of scotch, a bottle of martini and a six-pack of beer. To end it all Eddie bought a coffee machine and a dozen of coffee mugs. Loren couldn't really understand how Eddie was sure that this was a good gift for his new neighbors but played along. When they arrived at the apartment building where Eddie lived they saw a moving truck driving of and another car driving up to the building. It was the cable guy. After they had gotten up to the pent house she realized that Ian and Mel wasn't there and she wondered what had happened during the night. Suddenly Eddie got a text, he looked at it and said:

"It's time to meet the new neighbors".

"You know them?" Loren asked.

"Come on and you will find out" Eddie told her and dragged her out to the hallway. He rang the doorbell and the door slowly opened up. Loren couldn't see anyone but followed Eddie in to the apartment. Suddenly she heard familiar voices shout:

"Surprise".

When she turned around she saw Mel and Ian standing there. Ian had his arm around Mel's waist and they both smiled widely. Loren suddenly got it. Ian had bought the apartment and moved in across the hall from Eddie.

"How did you pull this off?" Loren asked.

"Mel here had seen the ad about the apartment a couple of days ago and told me that there was a vacancy but I really didn't think that it was something for me. Then after my promise yesterday she told me that I should call the landlord today and ask if it was still available. When it still was available she told me that she would move in with me if I took it and then the choice was easy. I called a moving company that stored my stuff from when I last lived here in LA a couple of years ago and told them to deliver the furniture today and then we called the cable guy and now everything is settled" Ian told us.

"But Mel you hardly know this guy and you can't afford to live up here. How are you going to manage this? What did Lisa say about you moving in with Ian?" Loren blurted out.

"Hold your horses" Mel said. "I'm not going to move in today. We are going to get to know each other a little bit more first but when I've turned 19, my internship is done and I get employed in a couple of months I will be moving in. I won't be paying half of the rent since Ian got a job here in town and the company will be paying the rent, but I will pay for half of the food and everything else".

"Congratulations man" Eddie said and gave Ian one of those strange man hugs. "Great news! You will be staying in town AND living next door to me. It couldn't be better news."

"And I will be close to my girl not travelling around the world, at least not for now" Ian said with a smile looking at Mel. She gave him a peck on his cheek and dragged the still stunned Loren around the apartment showing her around.

That evening the both couples spent together just hanging out, laughing and eating Take-out. It was one of the best evenings ever.

_Suddenly I hear a voice on the other line:_

_"Hello, I'm Doctor Jonas. I'm so sorry that I couldn't take your call right away. But now I really have to tell you that you need to come to the hospital. We've got a donor for you that can donate everything you need but you need to be here within an hour"._

_I just can't believe what I am hearing. There's a donor? But there hasn't been one for the whole time that I've been sick. How come there is one today? Is it a he or a she? Where is the person from? How old? Is he dead or still alive? Does she know what she is doing? _

_After a short period of time I hear the doctor calling on the other end of the line but I can't speak. I just hand the phone over to my husband who takes the call and talks to the doctor. A smile is forming on his face and he says:_

_"Of course. Yes sir. Yes sir. We will sir. Right away sir". And then he hangs up the phone, lifts me up and spins me around, cheering. Everyone in the garden is looking at us in silence. I can hardly breathe and when he notices that everyone is looking at us he says:_

_"It's time. We got the organs and we have to go to the hospital right away"._

_Everyone gets on their feet immediately and runs up and hugs us. Since they all can't come to the hospital the grownups promises to take care of the children and my nine year old daughter will be staying with our friends until the operation is over. We have prepared her for it for a couple of years but it still isn't easy to say goodbye to her. The tears are streaming down our cheeks and I tell her that no matter what happens I will always be with her in her heart. Ten year old Gus Jr. puts his arms around my daughter and leads her over to the lounger where I was laying just a second ago and my husband and I start leaving the premises. A bag is standing in the hallway waiting for me and we pick it up, say goodbye to our family and friends in our front yard and then the ambulance arrives and picks us up. We are on our way._

**So, what do you think? Please R & R.**

**/K**


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